Chronology of North Korea's missile, rocket launches

SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile into eastern waters on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, ahead of U.S.-China summit talks. The following is a chronology of the North's major missile provocations.

-- Aug. 31, 1998: North Korea fires off its first ballistic missile, the Unha-1 rocket, also known as the Taepodong-1 missile, from the launch site of Musudan-ri in North Hamgyong Province.

-- July 4, 2006: North Korea test-fires an advanced version of Taepodong-2 missile at the Musudan-ri launch site.

-- April 5, 2009: North Korea launches the Unha-2 rocket at the Musudan-ri launch site with the attendance of leader Kim Jong-il and his son Kim Jong-un.

-- April 13, 2012: North Korea fires off a long-range rocket, the Unha-3 rocket, from the Dongchang-ri launch site in North Pyongan Province. But the rocket crashed in pieces into the sea shortly after takeoff.

-- Dec. 1, 2012: North Korea says it will launch a working satellite, the Kwangmyongsong-3, on the carrier rocket Unha-3, between Dec. 10 and 22.

-- Dec. 10, 2012: North Korea extends the rocket launch window until Dec. 29, citing technical problems in the first-stage control engine module.

-- Dec. 12, 2012: North Korea launches a long-range rocket from the Dongchang-ri launch site in North Pyongan Province.

-- May 8, 2015: North Korea conducts a test-fire of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), dubbed "KN-11," in its first attempt to launch such a missile. Seoul said that it was more of a test for the ejection rather than firing.

-- Nov. 28, 2015: North Korea fires-off an SLBM in the East Sea, but Seoul views the test as a failure.

-- Dec. 21, 2015: South Korea's military says North Korea conducted another SLBM test in December, but the test ended in a failure.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that North Korea succeeded in the underwater test of a KN-11 missile near the eastern port of Sinpo on Dec. 21, citing unidentified U.S. defense officials.

-- Feb. 2, 2016: North Korea notifies U.N. agencies of its plan to launch a satellite between Feb. 8-25.

-- Feb. 6, 2016: North Korea informs the International Maritime Organization of its plan to move up the launch date to between Feb. 7-14.

-- Feb. 7, 2016: North Korea fires a long-range rocket from the Dongchang-ri launch site at around 9:30 a.m. The North claims it has successfully placed a satellite, named "Kwangmyongsong-4," into orbit,

-- March 18, 2016: North Korea launches what appeared to be two mid-range Rodong ballistic missiles from its western province.

-- April 15, 2016: North Korea conducts its first test-launch of an intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile, also known as the BM-25, but the launch ended in failure.

-- April 23, 2016: North Korea test-fires an SLBM in the East Sea, which flew only about 30 kilometers

-- April 28, 2016: North Korea launches two intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missiles, but the launches ended in failure.

-- May 31, 2016: North Korea test-fires an intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile, but the launch ends in failure.

-- June 22, 2016: North Korea fires off two intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missiles. One missile flew about 400 km, which experts widely viewed as a success.

-- July 9, 2016: North Korea launches an SLBM off its east coast, but Seoul said the missile appeared to explode at an altitude of some 10 kilometers.

-- July 19, 2016: North Korea test-fires two mid-range Rodong missiles and a shorter-range Scud missile.

-- Aug. 3, 2016: North Korea fires-off two mid-range Rodong ballistic missiles from near the southwestern area. One missile flew about 1,000 kilometers before falling into Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

-- Aug. 24, 2016: North Korea test-fires an SLBM in waters off its east coast towards Japan. The missile flew about 500 kilometers, making it the longest flight by such a missile.

-- Oct. 15, 2016: North Korea fires-off an intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile, but it exploded after the launch.

-- Oct. 20, 2016: North Korea launches what appears to be an intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile, but the test ends in failure.

-- Feb. 12, 2017: North Korea launches a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, called Pukguksong-2, into the East Sea. Experts said the country appears to apply technology used in the SLBM to develop a new missile.

-- March 6, 2017: North Korea fires four ballistic missiles from its the Dongchang-ri launch site toward the East Sea.

-- March 22, 2017: North Korea launches a missile from its east coast that is presumed to have failed. The type of the missile is not confirmed.

-- April 5, 2017: North Korea fires what appears to be a type of KN-15 intermediate-range ballistic missile.
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